Choosing a Dual Layer DVD Writer

[Kris H]

Hi all,

From what i have seen on these forums the three most popular Dual Layer DVD Writers are:

1. BenQ DW1620
2. NEC ND-3520A
3. Pioneer DVR-109BK

Basically i want your opinion on which one i should get bearing in mind the following:
- I want something that is relatively good at reading scratched or dirty CDs and DVDs
- I want something that has a good decryption speed (i use DVD Decrypter)
- I want something that writes all formats fairly reliably at higher speeds

Let me say i'm no nerd about these things, all i want is something that results in a good quality reproduction of a DVD. So long as it can do that then i'm happy.

Please give your reasons as to why you feel one writer is better than another.

Also something that has good firmware is definately beneficial.

Cheers

Thanks in advance for any help in this matter

[lumis]

i've used both the benq 1620 & the nec 3520

i liked the benq 1620 better than the nec 3520. i used hacked firmwares on both, and the hacked firmware for benq 1620 provided many more features.. such as 12x burning on 8x media i use. by default it sets the booktype of dvd+r/w/9DL media to DVD-ROM.. and it seemed quicker for dvd ripping.. but if there was a difference, it was small.

you can get it for $52.99 shipped from newegg.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-101-633&depa=1


the nec is $59.99 shipped from newegg
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-035&depa=1

i havent used the pioneer, but its $86.50 shipped.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-129-160&depa=1

[budz]

first of all lumis there is only hacked firmware for BENQ that will make the drive region free. other than that BENQ provides official firmware for the 1620 drive. Official firmware B7P9 and B7T9 will enable the drive to burn DUAL LAYER DVD+R media at 4x speed. BENQ drive has BITSETTING automatically out of the box. NO HACKED FIRMWARE IS NEEDED FOR THAT unlike the NEC drives need hack firmware for BITSETTING. Check out the BENQ FORUM at CDFREAKS.COM.

I burn DVD-/+ media flawlessly on my BENQ 1620'sl

[fritzi93]

The BenQ seems to be a pretty good reader. I can only offer a couple anecdotes to back that up, so take with a grain of salt:

I had saved a couple DVDs that had become unreadable, tried them with ISOBuster, DVDDecrypter, everything I could think of. Tried them in my DVD-ROM, the writer that burned them , no dice. Don't know why I saved them.

When I got my BenQ, I thought "What the hell", popped one in and turned DVDDecrypter loose on ISO Read. Came back in an hour and it was done, no read errors, only a few retries. Tried the next one, same.

Now I was interested. I have a rare CD with a nasty scratch, couldn't recover one track. Started up EAC, extract to WAV on the offending track. Although it didn't complete without error, there's nothing wrong with the extracted track that my ears can detect. So I backed up the whole CD. 8)

As to whether one of the listed drives is better than another, I don't know, they all have their proponents.

[Tidy]

I have always used Pioneer from my understanding the burn quality is superior to both NEC and BenQ in PI/PO and jitter testing. i currently have an unlocked 108BK and had an unlocked 106 previously and both fo them work flawlessly with almost no coasters. I can't speak for the 109 from experience but from what i haev read there is ot much advantage if any to the 109BK over the 108BK.

[Heff]

I think highly of my BenQ Dw1620. It's read every DVD I've thrown at it (a lot of them very used) and I've not had one coaster (200+, avg quality in cd speed of 95%). I do think there's one hack too beside the region, there's a media code edit tool where you can use another media code write strategy for another code, but really you don't need to use it .

[lordsmurf]

Tall order you got there....

- I want something that is relatively good at reading scratched or dirty CDs and DVDs
1. BenQ DW1620 ... horrible reader (been reported several times here)..
2. NEC ND-3520A ... average reader
3. Pioneer DVR-109BK ... better than average reader
also consider 4. BTC ... probably best reader drive made

- I want something that has a good decryption speed (i use DVD Decrypter)
1. BenQ DW1620 ... fine
2. NEC ND-3520A ... don't know
3. Pioneer DVR-109BK ... "A09" is fine
also consider 4. BTC .... really good double-digit rip speeds

- I want something that writes all formats fairly reliably at higher speeds
1. BenQ DW1620 ... if it works, sure
2. NEC ND-3520A ... don't know
3. Pioneer DVR-109BK .... current firmware not the best for 12x-16x

[glockjs]

pioneer is the most solid drive on that list as far as burning quality. but do yourself a favor and invest an extra $25 for a lite on dvd rom that as fast rip speeds and is pretty good reading scratched discs. plus it's always better to put most of your hours on a cheaper rom than the more expensive writer

[soundforbjt]

first of all lumis there is only hacked firmware for BENQ that will make the drive region free. other than that BENQ provides official firmware for the 1620 drive. Official firmware B7P9 and B7T9 will enable the drive to burn DUAL LAYER DVD+R media at 4x speed. BENQ drive has BITSETTING automatically out of the box. NO HACKED FIRMWARE IS NEEDED FOR THAT unlike the NEC drives need hack firmware for BITSETTING. Check out the BENQ FORUM at CDFREAKS.COM.

I burn DVD-/+ media flawlessly on my BENQ 1620'sl

I beg to differ, there is a program at CDFreaks that allows you to create your own hacked firmware (custom writing strategy) for the BenQ 1620.


Oops, just saw that someone allready mentioned this.

[-jsl-]

I have always used Pioneer from my understanding the burn quality is superior to both NEC and BenQ in PI/PO and jitter testing.

pioneer is the most solid drive on that list as far as burning quality.

No. When it comes to burn quality there is really no clear winner of the three. Which of them that performs the best will depend on what discs you use.
If you add speed as a parameter too I'd say the BenQ is the winner though because the NEC is slow at 8x burning (it uses 4x-6x-8x ZCLV with late shifts) and the Pioneer supports few media at 16x.

BenQ DW1620 ... horrible reader (been reported several times here)..

The only problem I've seen reported is issues with reading some DVD-RW discs burned on a JVC recorder. Other than that it has very good error correction (see for example this test) and hence is good at reading poor and scratched discs.

[Heff]

Tall order you got there....

- I want something that is relatively good at reading scratched or dirty CDs and DVDs
1. BenQ DW1620 ... horrible reader (been reported several times here)..
2. NEC ND-3520A ... average reader
3. Pioneer DVR-109BK ... better than average reader
also consider 4. BTC ... probably best reader drive made

Here's a summary of dvd error correction rates for current 16x burners from c't magazin 21/2004:

Drive DVD-5 / DVD-9 aka DL
Pioneer DVR-A08 100% / 87,4% (aka Asus DRW-1640P)
LiteOn SOHW-1633S 96,2% / 86,6% (aka Teac DV-W516G)
BenQ DW-1620 78,4% / 86,6% (aka Nu-Tech DDW-163 aka Philips DVR1640K)
NEC ND-3500A 66,9% / 86,9%
LG GSA-4160B 63,2% / 87%

http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/tm.asp?m=82591[/b]

Also been reported here and at cdfreaks.com several times as being a very good reader.

[lordsmurf]

pioneer is the most solid drive on that list as far as burning quality. but do yourself a favor and invest an extra $25 for a lite on dvd rom that as fast rip speeds and is pretty good reading scratched discs. plus it's always better to put most of your hours on a cheaper rom than the more expensive writer

This is what I do. Sort of...

I bought yet another BTC burner, using it almost completely for reading purposes. It was only $50, less expensive than a really good Pioneer ROM drive.

I can dupe @ 8x from the BTC to the Pioneer 109.
Only 8-10 min, depending on media (PCAV, ZCLV).

I guess this is more about READING than RIPPING though.
I ripped a disc several days ago, it went fairly fast.

[budz]

Lordsmurf wrote

Tall order you got there....

- I want something that is relatively good at reading scratched or dirty CDs and DVDs
1. BenQ DW1620 ... horrible reader (been reported several times here)..
2. NEC ND-3520A ... average reader
3. Pioneer DVR-109BK ... better than average reader
also consider 4. BTC ... probably best reader drive made

- I want something that has a good decryption speed (i use DVD Decrypter)
1. BenQ DW1620 ... fine
2. NEC ND-3520A ... don't know
3. Pioneer DVR-109BK ... "A09" is fine
also consider 4. BTC .... really good double-digit rip speeds

- I want something that writes all formats fairly reliably at higher speeds
1. BenQ DW1620 ... if it works, sure
2. NEC ND-3520A ... don't know
3. Pioneer DVR-109BK .... current firmware not the best for 12x-16x

Where has it been reported here that the BENQ 1620 is a horrible reader??????? I haven't seen that here or at the BENQ FORUM. I've had scratched discs or cycle redunancy errors with my dvdroms and other burners but the BENQ 1620 is able to read them flawlessly. The BENQ 1620 writes all formats well when using good quality dvd media.

It's getting tiresome of seeing you bash the BENQ 1620. Yet you don't mention that there are people who do own the BENQ 1620 that have no problems with the drive. "shakes my head"!